Wentworth
Institute of Technology
Christ to COKE : how image becomes icon /
Image, branding, and logos are obsessions of our age. Iconic images dominate the media. Christ to Coke is the first book to look at all the main types of visual icons. It does so via eleven supreme and mega-famous examples, both historical and contemporary, to see how they arose and how they continu...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford ; New York :
Oxford University Press,
2012.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
Full text (Wentworth users only) |
| Local Note: | ProQuest Ebook Central |
| Summary: | Image, branding, and logos are obsessions of our age. Iconic images dominate the media. Christ to Coke is the first book to look at all the main types of visual icons. It does so via eleven supreme and mega-famous examples, both historical and contemporary, to see how they arose and how they continue to function. Along the way, we encounter the often weird and wonderful ways that they become transformed in an astonishing variety of ways and contexts. How, for example, has the communist revolutionary Che become a romantic hero for middle-class teenagers?The stock image of Christ's face is the fo. How does an image become iconic? In this book, the author, an art historian offers a look at the main types of visual icons. This work illuminates eleven universally recognized images, both historical and contemporary, to see how they arose and how they continue to function in our culture. It begins with the stock image of Christ's face, the founding icon, literally, since he was the central subject of early Christian icons. Some of the icons that follow are general, like the cross, the lion, and the heart-shape (as in "I heart New York"). Some are specific, such as the Mona Lisa, Che Guevara, and the famous photograph of the napalmed girl in Vietnam. Other modern icons come from politics, such as the American flag (the "Stars and Stripes"), from business, led by the Coca-Cola bottle, and from science, most notably the double helix of DNA and Einstein's famous equation E=mc2. Researched by a visual historian, the stories of these icons are funny; some are deeply moving; some are highly improbable; some center on popular fame; others are based on the most profound ideas in science. The diversity is extraordinary. Along the way, we encounter the often weird and wonderful ways that these images adapt to an astonishing variety of ways and contexts. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xxiv, 368 pages) : illustrations (some color) |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780191617041 0191617040 1283949512 9781283949514 0191619884 9780191619885 |
| Access: | Unlimited Users and Download Restrictions may Apply, VLEbooks Unlimited User Licence. Available using University of Exeter Username and Password. |
| Language: | English. |
| Source of Description, Etc. Note: | Online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed December 18, 2013). |